Joel Shepherd - Haven

Rhillian was there also, with a quick embrace, and then Sasha saw Aisha, with a cheerful smile, and that embrace was longer. Then there were some Nasi-Keth friends from the Tol'rhen in Tracato, including Daish, a young, freckle-faced lad with a mischievous tongue, and Sasha hugged him too.

And finally, amidst the other greetings as the party was welcomed by Enorans and Lenays alike, she saw Errollyn. He leaned on his huge bow, and gazed at her. Sasha smiled back. She put her hands on her hips, and raised her eyebrows, as though to ask, “Where have you been?” His faintly exasperated smile replied, “Waiting for you.” Sasha laughed. She ran at him, and grabbed him fiercely.

“Isn't it odd,” he murmured, “that as du'jannah , I do not feel the unspoken pull of my fellow serrin, yet with you, I need no words?”

“Odd is one word for it,” said Sasha, and kissed him. That lingered, forcefully. Sasha broke away with effort, and noticed that nearby men were watching, some grinning, others astonished. Surely gossip had told of her serrin lover, yet now they saw it for real. “I'm sorry, we can't do this here.”

“I know,” said Errollyn. “It's hard for you to hold their respect when one of those who follows you is fucking you.”

Sasha gave him an incredulous stare. Then grinned as Errollyn laughed.

“Oh, they won't mind that,” she said dismissively, “they know I'm wild.” She had spent the past weeks wishing nothing more than to lose herself in his arms, but now that the opportunity presented, this was all she could manage. It mattered not, he was here now, and they were on the same side once more. He seemed different, though. As though a darkness clung to him, somewhere behind the smile. But the leadership group was re-forming, and she had no time to query further.

They resumed their places in a circle beneath the oak, where stones fallen from paddock walls had been rolled into place. Damon was there, nursing wounded ribs and in obvious pain. He claimed that pain had prevented him from the jolting gallop to the head of the column, but it did not explain why he had not ridden out with Sasha to face General Rochan. Sasha suspected other reasons.

“Where have you been?” General Rochan asked Kessligh.

“Shemorane,” said Kessligh. “We arranged an ambush of sorts for the Regent, I think we may have cost them close to a thousand. A large part of the town was set afire to do it, but I think it worth the price.”

“You didn't burn down the High Temple after all?” Sasha asked. “Andreyis went to some lengths to save it.”

“No,” said Kessligh. “The flames were too far away, and the roofs all wet. The Regent's soldiers will have put it out before it spread.”

“Good,” said Rochan. “You cause them further confusion. We should stand here, before they resume their march.”

“No,” said Kessligh. “We have not the strength.”

“We concede too much to them already!” Rochan retorted. “They have lost three-quarters of the Army of Lenayin, while we have gained them. We are outnumbered no more than three to one and we have triumphed against worse odds than that before.”

“Our scouts intercepted a messenger,” said Rhillian. “He was Kazeri.”

“Kazeri?”

“The Kazeri were divided,” Rhillian said grimly. “There have been those amongst them who campaign for closer ties to the new, greater Bacosh. Verenthane Kazeri, much as in Lenayin. A few weeks back it seems the Verenthanes won, and the horsemen of Kazerak ride to the Regent's aid. Kazerak is a land of horsemen. The messenger was adamant on forty thousand.”

There was silence about the circle. Sasha only knew tales of Kazerak. It was huge, with hot summers and wide plains where little grew but grass. Its people were nomads, mostly horsemen, who fought largely amongst themselves. There were said to be many Kazeri, but no one knew precisely how many, because they had few towns and no cities. In past centuries, the priests had made inroads for the Verenthane faith, and Kazeri warlords had embraced the gods. There had been talk of Kazeri warlords riding to assist the Regent in his war, but no one had known for certain.

“All the more reason to stand and fight here,” said Rochan, unmoved. “If we beat the Regent first, we can stand and face the Kazeri before they join forces. Better to fight two smaller forces than one large one.”

“Except that neither force is small,” said Kessligh. “Both are larger than us…”

“Size has nothing to do with it.”

“…and should we gain a victory against the Regent,” Kessligh continued, “it shall cost us so dearly that the force which stands to face the Kazeri will have little chance of victory. The Kazeri are fast and skillful cavalry-neither the talmaad nor artillery gains us much advantage against them.”

“We think they're barely a week away,” Rhillian added. “It would take days just to engage the Regent, and he would delay, knowing the Kazeri ride fast.”

“And the Regent has some captured artillery from the Rhodaanis,” Kessligh finished. “His men will not use it well, but use it they will. The success of Steel formations has always been predicated on the assumption that its enemies shall not use such weapons back against them. One catapult alone would do terrible damage to tightly packed Steel formations.”

Rochan stabbed at the turf with his sword, and said nothing. Sasha recalled Kessligh's prediction in Tracato, that if the Steel lost, it would lose badly. The Steel were accustomed to victory and advance. Retreat and defensive withdrawal were not things they had any talent for.

“We need the Ilduuri,” said Kessligh. “What news of them?”

“Nothing,” Rhillian said grimly. “Not even a messenger.”

“I know them,” ventured Formation Captain Petisse, Rochan's second-in-command. “I studied at their school, and I have family there. Leading members of the Ilduuri Council favour isolation. They have their mountains-they see no need to risk destruction to come to our aid.”

“They're fools,” Rochan muttered. “Do they think to make terms with the Regent and his priests once we are defeated? It may not come immediately, but one day he shall march on them, and even their mountains shall not protect them.”

“The Ilduuri are isolated,” said Aisha. “I've travelled there, for study and talmaad business. They have never favoured engagement with their neighbours.”

“But I hear the Ilduuri Steel is strong?” said Kessligh.

Rochan nodded. “Strong, yes. And more friendly to our cause than most Ilduuris-Ilduur society is isolated, but their army is not; we often train with contingents they send to us. They have less artillery-it's hard to use in the mountains. Their cavalry are good, but less so than Rhodaani and Enoran cavalry. Their infantry is the best of us all. Fewer formations, more individually skilled. Longer blades. I warrant they'd give you Lenays a fair contest.”

“Unlikely,” said Sasha. “But good to hear.”

“And no use to us at all if they will not fight,” Rochan finished.

“We must persuade them,” said Kessligh. “Councils are never unanimous. If Ilduur had a king, then likely his mind would already be made, and all our asking would count for nothing. But councils have factions. Probably there will be one faction that will want to help, but is currently outvoted, even if it is only the Steel.”

He looked to Aisha and Petisse for confirmation. Both nodded. Rochan, Sasha noted, was watching Kessligh intently, while seeming not to. Did it rankle the great general that this foreign usurper was slowly winning command? Rochan commanded the Enoran Steel, General Geralin the Rhodaani, and Rhillian the talmaad. But only Kessligh could see the whole picture, and knew how to forge all the distinct forces together into a working defence. From the look on Rochan's face, Sasha thought that he was reluctantly reaching the same conclusion as she.